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受新冠肺炎疫情影响，原定于下个月举行的东京奥运会被推迟至2021年。借此机会，我们应该对奥运会进行深入思考。国际奥委会希望能让奥运会更受年轻人的喜爱。为此，奥委会正在引入一些新的运动项目（例如滑板、冲浪和攀岩等）。

Why not go further and let national teams compete at video games? Electronic sports such as “Fortnite”, described above, are vastly more popular than Olympic oddities such as dressage or curling. In fact, they are more popular than most mainstream sports (see article). Only 28% of British boys aged 16-19 watch any traditional live sports; 57% play video games.

那么，何不更进一步，将电子竞技项目也纳入其中呢？电子竞技项目（如上文所描绘的“堡垒之夜”）比花样骑术或冰壶等奇葩项目更受欢迎。事实上，它们甚至比大多数主流运动项目更受欢迎。在16-19岁的英国青少年中，只有28%的人会观看传统体育赛事，但却有57%的人玩电子游戏。

Stick-in-the-muds may grumble that e-sports are not proper sports. Many parents, observing their surly teenagers sitting on the sofa all day twiddling their thumbs and shouting “Quick, pass me the shotgun!” at a screen, would agree. Yet video games are highly competitive, with professional leagues that play to packed stadiums.

因循守旧者或许会抱怨称，电子竞技并非一项真正的运动。许多父母对此表示认同，因为他们都会看到这样的场景：性情乖戾的孩子整天窝在沙发上打着游戏，还会大声喊道“快，把霰弹枪给我！”然而，电子游戏实际极具竞技性，职业联赛往往也会在人潮涌动的体育馆进行。

There are perhaps only 200 tennis stars in the world who can make a living from playing in tournaments. By contrast “League of Legends”, a fantasy game played by teams of five, supports over 1,000 on good wages. Its World Championship final last year was watched by 44m people.

全球大概只有200位网球明星能够以打联赛为生。相比之下，五人一队的奇幻游戏“英雄联盟”却能以高额薪金养活超过1000名职业选手。去年，有超过4400万名观众观看了“英雄联盟”全球总决赛。

New sports have always been unpopular at first. King Edward II of England tried to ban football in 1314, because he thought boys should be learning archery instead. In 19th-century America churchy types objected to baseball, which they worried was too much fun.

新的运动项目一开始向来不受欢迎。1314年，英国国王爱德华二世曾试图禁止人们踢足球，因为在他看来，男孩子就应该去射箭。在19世纪的美国，教会反对人们打棒球，因为他们认为棒球太好玩了。

The best e-sports require as much skill and dexterity as many conventional sports—professional gamers typically carry out five distinct actions every second. Video games are also cheaper and more accessible than, say, sailing or horse-riding.

绝佳的电子游戏对技巧和灵活性的要求不亚于传统运动项目——职业选手通常要在一秒内完成5种不同的操作。此外，相比帆船或马术，电子游戏的门槛更低，也更容易上手。

Critics of e-sports offer moral objections, too. They are addictive. Prince Harry has called for “Fortnite” to be banned for this reason. They are violent. Surely, at a time of global disharmony, it is a bad idea to make simulated killing an Olympic sport? The Olympics aim to promote peace. Finally, video games are crassly commercial. Nobody owns basketball; “League of Legends” is owned by Tencent, a Chinese megacorporation.

批评者从道德层面提出了异议。首先，电子游戏会让人上瘾。哈里王子也曾因此呼吁禁止“堡垒之夜”。其次，电子游戏充斥着暴力。在如今这个全球充满矛盾冲突的时代，将一款模拟杀戮的游戏纳入奥运会项目不是一个好主意吧？奥运会的宗旨在于促进和平。最后，电子游戏太过商业化。篮球不归任何人所有，但“英雄联盟”却为中国互联网巨头腾讯所有。

None of these arguments is very convincing. The idea that an activity, rather than a substance, can be addictive is contentious among doctors, as is the existence of a causal link between gaming and violence. And the notion that warlike sports have no place in the Olympics is hard to square with history. Javelin-throwing and wrestling were introduced in 708BC. They are still there.

这些理由都不具说服力。正如有关游戏与暴力是否存在因果关系的争论那样，对于一项活动（而非一种物质）能否让人上瘾也在医学界引发了争论。与战争相关的体育项目在奥运会上没有一席之地的说法与历史不相符合。掷标枪和摔跤在公元前708年就被纳入为奥运会项目。如今，它们仍被保留。

Modern pentathlon, which includes shooting and fencing, was designed to train soldiers. The imaginary mayhem in “Fortnite” cannot be compared to the real harm caused by boxing. Packs of e-sports fans do not rampage through town centres as soccer or ice-hockey fans sometimes do.

现代五项全能运动中的射击与击剑都是为训练士兵所设计的。“堡垒之夜”中的虚拟伤害相比拳击造成的真实伤害根本不值得一提。人数众多的电竞粉丝也不会像足球粉丝或冰球粉丝那样在市中心聚众狂欢。

As for the fact that e-sports belong to companies, so what? The Olympics already generates billions from broadcasting and sponsorship. Commercial pressure can make for livelier entertainment. Having a video game named as an Olympic sport would be a huge prize. Companies would vie to create games as exciting to watch as they are to play. This sounds like a recipe for fun.

至于说电子游戏归属于公司，那又何妨？奥运会本身就通过转播和赞助从创造了数十亿美元的收入。况且，商业压力能够让娱乐业更加生机勃勃。拥有一款被纳为奥运项目的电子游戏对于一家公司来说是至高无上的荣耀。各大公司会争相开发既具观赏性又具可玩性的电子游戏。这听起来很有趣。

Those who disagree can always watch the 20,000-metre speed-walk. Put “Fortnite” in the Olympics, and millions will tune in who might otherwise not have bothered. They might evenstumble acrossa traditional sport and decide to try it, too. And if the experiment fails, no matter. The International Olympic Committee could drop it in 2024, as it has previously dropped croquet, tug-of-war and solo synchronised swimming.

那些持不同意见者随时可以去看2万米竞走比赛。如果将“堡垒之夜”纳为奥运会项目，那么将有数百万原本不看奥运会的人前来收看比赛。他们可能会偶然发现一项传统运动，并决定去试试。即使将电竞纳入奥运会的实验失败了也没关系。国际奥委会完全可以在2024年取消这一项目，就像之前取消槌球、拔河和单人花样游泳项目那样。

(红色标注词为重难点词汇)

本文翻译：Vinnie

校核：Vinnie

编辑：Vinnie

小编说

有关电子竞技游戏是否应该加入奥运会的争论由来已久。在反对者看来，电竞游戏并非一项真正的运动、会使人上瘾、充斥着暴力，同时还存在着商业利益等问题。但在作者看来，这些问题都不算问题，何不做一次尝试，即使实验失败了也可以在下一届奥运会时再取消掉。那么，在你看来，电竞游戏是否应该被纳入奥运会？

重难点词汇：

garish [ˈɡerɪʃ] adj. 花哨的；鲜艳的

adulation [ˌædʒəˈleɪʃn] n. 奉承；谄媚

grumble [ˈɡrʌmbl] v. 抱怨；嘟囔 n. 怨言

tournament [ˈtɜːrnəmənt] n. 锦标赛；联赛

dexterity [dekˈsterəti] n. 灵巧；敏捷；机敏

mayhem [ˈmeɪhem] n. 骚乱，混乱；残害

rampage [ˈræmpeɪdʒ] v. 横冲直撞；狂暴；乱闹 n. 暴怒

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